Vol.10 No.5

Baby On Board, No Alcohol Please!
Total abstinence is the only way to prevent alcohol-related birth defects in children
—a stand taken by the Surgeon General as well as the American Medical Association.
By Cheryl Tamelcoff, R.N., B.S.N.

A woman who drinks alcohol while pregnant is setting her child up for many physical, mental, and social problems that the child will confront for the rest of his or her life.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the name given to certain physical and mental birth defects directly related to a woman’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. It affects nearly 5,000 newborn infants each year, or about 1 out of every 750 live births. It occurs in all races and socio-economic backgrounds.¹ There is no cure for FAS, and the effects are lifelong.

To date, FAS has cost Americans nearly $33 billion to treat. Between 1972 and 1992, the number of reported cases tripled according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.² Moreover, there are 30,000 or more children who may not have full-blown FAS, but who still manifest fetal alcohol effects (FAE), or alcohol-related birth defects (ARBDs).³

FAS Complications

Major complications associated with FAS include retarded physical growth, both in the womb and after birth, brain impairment, and facial abnormalities.⁴

Physical problems are numerous, ranging from gross defects to those that are less obvious. Babies are born smaller, usually below the tenth percentile in weight and length. This means that, according to their age, 90% of other babies are above them. Their faces are flat, noses shorter, jaws are malformed, and their heads are generally smaller. They are often born with hearing problems, deficient immunity, and joint and bone defects. They also experience heart murmurs when heart valves fail to open and close properly.⁵

The effects of alcohol on the fetal brain are noticed soon after birth and leave a baby permanently and substantially damaged. Infants of mothers who drink up until delivery show extreme physical anxiety due to the alcohol withdrawal symptoms they experience not long after birth.⁶

According to the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, FAS is one of the leading causes of mental retardation.⁷  Because children with FAS have shorter attention spans, difficulty with memory, and problems understanding concepts of cause and effect, cognitive learning and problem solving is extremely difficult for them. Additionally, when these children become adults, they have problems with self-control and are impulsive and hyperactive.

How Much Alcohol Is Too Much?

Very small amounts of alcohol can affect an unborn child, even very early in pregnancy, before a woman recognizes she is pregnant. Women of childbearing age who drink put their unborn child at risk of FAS and FAE should they become pregnant. Research shows that those mothers who consumed more than twenty alcoholic drinks during pregnancy were three times as likely as nondrinkers to have a baby with acute myeloid leukemia,  (AML), a type of leukemia with a low cure rate which could be classified as an FAE.⁸

Research has also linked fathers’ drinking practices to fetal impairment. In light of this, a responsible man will remain totally abstinent in the event his wife becomes pregnant.⁹

Because of all the problems associated with alcohol use during pregnancy, one may wonder if it is safe to use any alcohol at all. Many mistakenly believe that FAS affects only those consuming alcohol in large amounts. According to the evidence, there is no “safe” amount of alcohol, so the best advice is to (1) abstain completely if a woman is planning on becoming pregnant and (2) continue to abstain during the pregnancy. “The truth is that total abstinence is the only way to prevent alcohol-related birth defects in children.

Such a stand has been taken by the Surgeon General as well as the American Medical Association.”¹⁰

References:           

1. National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, 1998. www.nofas.org.
2. Robert R. Rabel, M.D., Saunders Manual of Medical Practice, W.B. Saunders Co., pp.1134-1135.
3. Neil Nedley, M.D.,  Proof Positive, published by Neil Nedley, Ardmore, OK, p. 439.
4. Ibid.
5. Missouri Dept. Of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. www.modmh.state.mo.us/ada/facts/fetal.htm; also Robert Rabel, pp.1134–1135.
6. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Publication No. (SMA) 94-2060, 1994, p. 15.
7. Robert R. Rabel, M.D., pp.1134–1135.
8. Neil Nedley, M.D., p. 439.
9. Ibid., p. 440.
10. Ibid.